The first stage of a presidential
campaign is the nomination campaign.

At this time the candidate is
competing with other candidates in the same party, hoping to get the
party's nomination.

The candidate works to win
delegates—( who are delegates ?-- they are representatives who pledge to
support the candidate's nomination at the national party convention—and to
persuade potential voters in general.

Caucuses andprimaryelections
take place in the states.

Caucuses
and primaries are ways for the general public to take part in nominating
presidential candidates. Before the 20th century , only the
party leaders in each state could nominate presidential candidates.

Political Parties of US

What is a caucus?

The caucuses are part of a
four-stage election of state delegates to send to the national convention
of each party.

These delegates then officially
nominate their national candidate.

The caucuses are held in 10 US
states (out of 50) — Iowa, Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Maine,
Minnesota, Nevada, North Dakota and Wyoming.

In the remaining 40 states,
primaries, a statewide process in which voters cast secret ballots, are
used.

ok but then what's the difference between a primaries and a caucus?

Caucuses were once the main way in which
nominees were picked, but they came to be replaced by primaries over the course
of the 20th century, and surged in the wake of the reappraisal following the
1968 convention. Now a vast majority of nomination contests in the United
States are primaries.

But what's the difference?

First, the Caucus

Voting at a caucus is more than
just voting — it's participating in a local party meeting.

These contests are run and funded
by the party, not by the state.

People registered with a party
cast their votes for their preferred presidential candidate, but they also
vouch for their preferred candidates, talk about the party platform and
elect local party leaders.

The meeting can take hours, and
while they can be open or closed like primaries, they tend to be smaller
and attract people who are deeply committed to a party and less
ideologically moderate than the general electorate.

Because of their relative
complexity, caucuses are considered a test of a campaign's organizing
strength.

what abt the
Primaries ??

Voting at a primary is much like
voting in the general election.

Citizens go to a state-run polling
station and cast a secret ballot for their preferred candidate for a
party.

Some of these contests are
"open primaries," meaning voters can participate in a party's
election regardless of their own party affiliation.

Others are "closed,"
meaning that a voter can only vote for a candidate in the party they're
registered with — only registered Democrats can vote in a Democratic
primary, only registered Republicans in a Republican race.

There are also semi-closed
primaries — unaffiliated voters can vote for whichever party they wish to,
but voters registered with a party can only vote for candidates within
their party.

At a
caucus, local party members gather to nominate
a candidate. A caucus is a lively event at which party leaders and activists
debate issues, consider candidates, choose delegates, and discuss the party
platform, or statement of principles. The rules governing caucus procedures
vary by party and b y state.

A
primary is more like a general election.
Voters go to the polls to cast their votes for a presidential candidate (or
delegates who will represent that candidate at the party convention). Primary
elections are the main way for voters to choose a nominee.

phir
uske baad ?.... Nominee for
president is announced at national party conventions.

The main goal of a national party
convention is to unify party members behind the party's platform and
nominees.

Thousands of delegates gather to
rally support for the platform and to nominate candidates for president
and vice-president.

From
the 1820s until the 1930s, party conventions were boisterous events in which
determining a nominee could spark hot debate. By the mid-20th century, however,
primary elections had become the main way of selecting a nominee.

Presidential
elections are held every four years on the Tuesday after the first Monday of
November. This was decided long ago, when many voters had to make a long, slow
journey to the polling place. By early November crops were in but the weather
was usually not too cold for travel. And because Sunday was a day of rest,
voters would begin the trip on Monday.

Many
Americans think that when they cast their ballot, they are voting for their
chosen candidate. In actuality they are selecting groups of electors in the electoral
college.

Some of the
founding fathers wanted Congress to
elect the president. Others wanted the president to be elected by popular vote.
The electoral college represents a compromise between these ideas.

but
what is this ELECTORAL COLLEGE ?

The Electoral College is a group of people
selected by each state who vote for the president.

For a candidate to become president they
need to win the Electoral College vote.

toh yeah log jo vote karenge isko
ELECTORAL VOTE kehte hai !!

toh POPULAR vote kya hai ?

the vote for a U.S. presidential candidate
made by the qualified voters, as opposed to that made by the electoral
college.

actually that voting is for electing
people to Electoral College ..but it is like u vote for such a person to
the Electoral college who favors or is affiliated to the presidential
candidate party (i.e. Republicans or Democrats ! )

All the electoral votes from a
particular state go to the candidate who leads the popular vote in that
state.

A candidate can therefore win
millions of popular votes but no electoral votes.

This “winner takes all” system can
produce seemingly uneven results; in the elections of 1876, 1888, and
2000, for instance, the candidate who had the greatest popular vote did
not win the greatest electoral college vote, and so lost the presidency.

kab hoti hai yeh ELECTORAL voting for US President?

On the first Monday after the
second Wednesday in December, the electors cast their ballots.

Nothing in
the Constitution or federal law requires that the electors vote
along with their state's popular vote, though an elector who did not would
likely not be reelected.

At least 270 electoral votes are
required to elect a president.

If this majority is not reached,
the House of Representatives will elect the president.

On January 20, the president
enters office in a formal ceremony know as the inauguration.

He takes the presidential oath: “I
do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of
President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability,
preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

In
accordance with the Constitution, the inauguration used to take place on March
4, because transportation and communication were so slow that it took time to
collect election results and allow winning candidates to travel to Washington,
D.C. With the 20th Amendment in 1933, however, the inauguration date
was changed to January 20.